tips for making part time actually part time

[teaandkittens123]

Hi, thanks for reading. I'll be returning to work 4 days per week (one from home) 8-4.30, in a couple of weeks time after 10 months maternity leave. Apart from the massive wrench away from my daughter which I'm really struggling with, I'm worried how I'll actually make sure that part time means part time. I'll be doing a role which no-one has done before at our company (used to be split between loads of people as part of their (and my) job. I do think that it will be loads of work, but I've fought to do it as I felt it would be more I interesting than my old role and I might as well try and make work good if I have to do it. I had hoped to do 3 days, but they've insisted on 4 'because most feedback we get is that people struggle on 3 because they can't fit the work in'. I think they've basically agreed because they think 4 days is nearly 5. I was so glad to get the role I wanted that I didn't think too much about this until now and it's beginning to worry me. A friend who used to work with me part time has said that there wasn't any scientific way of making the job part time, they just gave her work and she did it. My worry is that the new role will be too much work, esp. part time and that if I raise this later, they'll say they told me so and think I'm difficult. I want to try and establish what is realistic from the beginning, but won't really know until I do it. I used to work late every night, but can't and don't want to do this now. Has anyone got any tips for establishing realistic workload from the beginning?

Is there anything you can do differently to work more efficiently eg filling in one less form, having template documents.

Is there anyone else in your team who can help out.

Take a shorter lunch break. When you work from home, limit your telephone calls/emails and use the commute time to cram in more work. I realise that isn't the best answer, but it may help you to make it work.

I tend to think that a four day week is really five days squeezed into four.

You just have to be really strict about how many hours you work. A woman I used to work with was supposed to work four days but ended up taking calls, answering emails and sometimes going to meetings. She confided in me one day that she was under so much pressure that she was crying almost every day. I told her to stop doing any work the fifth day. She wasn't getting paid for it and people probably didn't realise it was actually her day off.

I read another thread on here in which someone said she studied all the males in the office and copied them. She stopped doing all the wifework and trying really hard to keep everyone happy. No one noticed.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but I am probably going to hand my notice this week because of this. I've spent a year trying to manage, am now in counselling and taking anti anxiety meds. I simply cannot do the work in the hours.

I am four days a week and everyone assumes you are full time.

I always set my out of office on my day off so people don't expect an immediate reply.

Mostly I am posting for tips as I do think I am basically expected to do the same amount of work in four days.

One thing that helped me was to never refer to my 'off' days as days off - they are your non-working days. That helps to set the scene that you are not expecting to work on those days.

I agree with JennyWren, except would take it further by saying "My working days are Mon.Tue., Thurs., Fri." or whatever they are, rather than emphasising the non-working day.

I would make sure you have a separate phone and e-mail address for work, and not turn them on / check them on the days you aren't being paid for.

I do agree with most that 4 days is not ideal, in that people do tend to expect you to do a full week.

Without knowing your job though, it's difficult to know if you can stick to fixed hours. Even if you can't, then can you think about the "average" hours you worked in FT, and then limit yourself to working 4/5 of that? that's what I did as a teacher working 0.6, when I'd done 36 hour in a week, I'd stop, working on the principal I'd done the 3/5 I was being paid for, but if you weren't strict with yourself, then you could go on forever, as it's the sort of job there's no end to.

I think it's good to have a positive way of feeding back to your managers / whoever is 'giving you the work'. "Thanks for allocating me this, it looks really interesting. Now, you know I'm paid for 4/5 of a week, do you want me to pick this up once I've completed X,Y,Z, or do you want me to start this now and put the others on hold?" type conversations. Just being very clear that they will obviously only get 4/5 of the work from you as they are now only paying out 4/5 of the money.

Again, depending on your work, would it help if they used the 1/5 of your salary to employ someone for a few hours a week in some kind of administrative or assistant role ? You could go in with a positive suggestion of how the company could be more productive that way, again, avoiding the concept that you need help.

I do 3dpw and what it really means is working the hours of 4dpw. But when I worked FT I did the equivalent of 6dpw so I accept it. I genuinely don't normally work the other 2 days except the odd email but I work longer than contracted hours in the office and some evenings do an hour or two. Yes I could work 4 days and get paid more, but I accept that I would then probably be allocated more work and this way I see more of DC and just about stay on top if the housework etc. But I use lots if techniques to ensure I don't do even longer hours. Clear OoO message, asking those giving me work to tell me which to prioritise, delegating down up and sideways, deliberately giving one sentence answers to emails on day off to emphasise I am not working so not willing to get into protracted email correspondence.

I agree with asking your manager which work to prioritise. I actually go to 1 to 1 meetings armed with a printout of my calendar with non working days blanked out and a list of jobs I plan to do each day. Then if she gives me extra work I can work out there and then which day I should do it and where it comes on my list of priorities.

I'm afraid I agree that many employers will see 4 days as a full-time post but they get to save 20% of pay.

When I went back to work after DC1 I was quite conscious of this. I don't think my employer would have taken advantage as it happens but I thought I'd be trying to still do full-time tasks and feeling stressed that I couldn't. I did compressed hours instead, 5 days in 4, retaining full pay.

This isn't for everyone so if it's not an option for you, I would ensure that your role has clear objectives, a clear set of tasks attached to it, to prevent you taking on anything anyone throws your way. Critically assess those tasks and give consideration to whether they are achievable in the time available to you. Be prepared to communicate regularly with your manager to ensure priorities are clear and met. Tell them if things are regularly dropping so far down your priorities that they don't get done - these things may need to be delegated away from your role.

Just be completely professional at all times (I'm sure you are!), this is a new role and it needs to be tested. I hope your manager is supportive of you in getting the work done in the time available.

Thanks for all your replies, some good help. I'll just have to give it a go and see!

I think the fact it's a new role is in your favour. Be very professional and committed while at work. Leave at 4:30. Don't stay late. Don't check emails or answer the phone on your day off. You will have to be very consistent about this to manage people's expectations, but you are totally within your rights to stick to it.

And, sadly, avoid too much talk about missing your daughter etc while you are at work, so they don't focus on the fact you are not there for one day as a "problem". Sad but true .